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BANGALORE: Top United Breweries (UB) Group executives and close aides of the troubled billionaire Vijay Mallya, who were parked on the payrolls of United Spirits (USL), have been shifted out with Diageo tightening the leash over India's largest distiller.

Diageo — now the largest shareholder and keen to improve profitability of USL — insisted on carrying only those who were part of the operational management.

This meant no slots for some of Mallya's bulge-bracket executives, including some involved with the grounded Kingfisher Airlines. They are being accommodated at the group holding company UB Holdings, riding largely on real estate income and dividends.

UB lifers like group president & CFO Ravi Nedungadi, UBHL managing director Harish Bhat, Kingfisher Airlines CFO A Raghunathan and the airline company secretary and chief legal officer Bharath Raghavan are among those exiting USL payrolls.

They remained part of USL — the cash cow of Mallya's diversified conglomerate until recently — for performing some overlapping group functions despite having their core duties outside the liquor company. Diageo's plans to clean up the balance sheet, which services a huge loan employed to buy out Scottish distiller Whyte & Mackay five years ago, has prompted their exit from USL books.

"There are some realignment and inter-company transfers in the normal course of business," a spokesperson for UB Group said, when contacted.

The holding company UBHL has no direct operations other than mixed real estate development in the heart of Bangalore, through a joint venture with Prestige Estates. With USL slipping out of control, there are questions about how Mallya, who relies heavily on his top aides, would keep it going. Some of them who are nearing retirement are unlikely to get extensions, which were done very often in the past.

"The holding company has cash for now, but there are concerns going forward," said a senior advisor to the group who did not wish to be quoted in the report. The second largest company in the group fold, United Breweries, is equally owned by Mallya and Heineken, with the latter in control of finances. Other group firms like UB Engineering and Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers (MCF) too have smaller balance-sheets.